


The Wicked Woods

by IceboundEmu



Category: LoveLink (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, F/M, How to tag this without spoiling this?, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:01:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27668570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceboundEmu/pseuds/IceboundEmu
Summary: An alternative take on the Raphael/Wyatt story.Can't write a summary without spoiling it.  Read it and see.
Relationships: Raphael Becker/MC
Kudos: 3





	The Wicked Woods

**Author's Note:**

> So I've written this before I've played any of Raphael's most recent update, so it's pretty obvious which point in the story I've spurred this from.
> 
> Hopefully once I actually convince Raphael to come back I can add more to this as I see where Ludia are going to take this on me.

It was raining when you found him.

The call from the monitoring room had come in the early hours of the morning, letting you know you’d been selected as part of the team to carry out a rescue at Site A. Apparently, another hiker had managed to get themselves into trouble, you were there to find out whether the situation was salvageable.

The team had been on the outskirts of the “old village” when you first heard the feeble cries for help. Wondering what sort of mess someone had managed to get into now you split off and picked your way through the abandoned shells of the buildings, trying to locate the source of the cries, till eventually you found yourself at the rotting remains of one of the former storage sheds. Noting that the boards which had previously secured the site had been pried away you sighed, stepping into the dark space it had exposed to find the structure had finally collapsed in on itself.

Not without pinning the foolish individual that had taken it upon themselves to explore the place.

Who screamed when he saw you, then promptly passed out.

Well, at least that would make it easier to free him. The last one who’d got into a similar situation had attempted to claw the eyes out of their would-be rescuer. You’d heard the tale directly from Lance, who’d been complained about it on a coffee break after you’d asked about the livid red scratches that marred his face. He’d gone on to tell you he’d been forced to put a bullet in their skull, the effects of the chemical exposure had affected them too much to ever recover fully from it and be returned to a normal life. By now they’d just be another missing person statistic, the remains had been incinerated and the family would never have the comfort of knowing what happened to their loved one, the files on this place would remain sealed.

You noticed his mobile, lying a short distance away from him was unlocked, a flashing symbol indicating that he’d turned it to dictation mode, which meant you had to be careful. Picking your way across the floor cautiously so not to disturb the fragile structure further you reached the mobile and keyed the microphone off, before you radioed in your location to the rest of the team, requesting immediate assistance and the medical team. He’d have to be sedated before you’d risk moving him back to headquarters, where he’d be kept restrained until the lasting effects of his exposure were confirmed.

Whilst you waited for the rest of the team to converge on your position you read though his most recent conversation. Apparently, he had downloaded an app called Lovelink and matched up with someone who appeared to have been encouraging him into even more dangerous situations to find out the “secret” of the village. The conversation would probably be of some interest to the powers that be, it certainly interested them when they got feedback on how prolonged exposure affected a subject. From the course of the conversations Raphael (you learnt his name was from his profile) was beginning to suffer the hallucinations the previous victims of exposure had complained of. Every example you could find that could provide information on how to make the story more believable was welcomed, the fake diary entries that had been an especially clever touch as he appeared to have been collecting them and swallowed the story within hook, line and sinker.

Whether the exposure he’d suffered was going to end in his premature death remained to be seen, but you were hopeful that he was young and healthy enough to make a full recovery in time.

The last conversation had ended in his companion stating that they were going to try and contact a forest ranger for him. You rolled your eyes at the sheer stupidity of the situation. A better idea would have been to advise him to make some kind of signal for help, it would have brought help quicker instead of him having to be reliant on the monitoring team growing concerned when they noticed he hadn’t come out of the building they were watching him explore. You made a mental note to ask for some internal cameras to be installed to some of the more unstable structures.

His companion’s icon was green, indicating they were still online, and you took care to close the app, severing the connection, before removing the battery from the phone. The technical team could get it open again later, assuming the lock was anything more than his fingerprint. From there it was just a case of bagging it up for safekeeping.

Someone cleared their throat behind you, and you spun round, face lighting up in surprised recognition.

“Birch! What are you doing down here?”

Birch was another facet to the story, though one that had been around a lot longer than the diaries. In his role as “the mad hermit” Birch tended to keep an eye on any potential explorers and radioed in regularly with any concerns. Rarely though did he ever take any interest beyond that, content to maintain a healthy distance between him and the site, returning to headquarters when he needed the prescription of the medication that prevented his contamination refilling. In those times you’d had a few conversations with him and found him to be articulate and witty. He was especially fond of birdwatching, a passion his role gave him ample time to exploit.

“Is the kid okay?”

He nodded in the direction of the prone form. You shrugged, wishing you could offer him reassurance that any damage was only physical.

“I hope we got to him in time. Was there something special about him?”

Birch’s expression twisted with unease.

“He was telling me he’s part of a band, something pretty big, there’s going to be a lot of attention on this if he vanishes into thin air.”

“I’ll let the powers that be know.”

There was enough equipment in the woods that search parties wouldn’t be able to pinpoint his location using the GPS of the phone you’d disconnected, nor, since the facility you worked in was underground, was there a chance of any search parties stumbling across that. Still, it never hurt to take proper precautions, if it did prove his brain was too damaged to recover enough of his blood in a location near to his camp would result in the authorities writing it off as a wild animal attack. In woods this vast the likelihood of finding remains from such an event was minimal.

Shouts from outside indicated the rest of the team had arrived and you stepped to the side to let them work.


End file.
